JEDDAH: An appeals court yesterday upheld the death penalty passed by a Saudi general court earlier this year against a Canadian and Jordanian for the murder of a Syrian national in a schoolyard fight.
The case was sent yesterday to the Supreme Judicial Council for review, and if the ruling is endorsed it will be passed to the supreme authority for final approval. However, Saudi law reserves the right of clemency in capital crime cases to the next-of-kin only.
Family members of the 19-year-old victim, Munzer Al-Haraki, expressed their gratitude to the Saudi judiciary system for what they described as a fair trial.
The two convicted men — 23-year-old Canadian Mohammed Kohail and 22-year-old Jordanian Mohanna Ezzat — along with Kohail’s younger brother, Sultan, 18, were charged with the murder of Al-Haraki in an after-school fight in Jeddah in January 2007. The fight allegedly erupted when Sultan harassed Al-Haraki’s 19-year-old cousin, Raneem.
Sultan’s case is still ongoing in a general court after an appeals court threw out a previous ruling of 200 lashes and a year in prison by a juvenile court and ordered a retrial in an adult court. Sultan may also face the death penalty if found guilty.
The father of the Syrian teenager, Mueen Al-Haraki, had earlier said he wanted to see a final death verdict before considering whether to pardon his son’s killers.
“I want a verdict, when a verdict is issued then there will be discussions,” said Mueen. “I want to know why they killed my son. What did he do to them?”
A pardon by the Al-Haraki family would take the death penalty off the table, although the young men could still face punishment under the public right.
Al-Haraki family said that a reconciliation committee, which acts as an intermediary in negotiations over private clemency pleas and blood money, approached them, but one family member said: “They are not considering our loss.”
Minwer Al-Haraki, the victim’s uncle, when asked if the family would pardon the Kohail brothers and Ezzat if Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah intercedes on their behalf, he said: “We will not turn down a request by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah. But, the king is known for his fairness and I know he would not tolerate any injustice.”
The Saudi leaders, including the king, occasionally intervene in cases like this, working as good-will ambassadors requesting forgiveness from victims’ families. But the Shariah is very clear in that nobody but the victims’ families can save a person who has been found guilty of murder and sentenced to death.
Canadian officials raised the case at the top levels during visits to the Kingdom. In a previous statement the Canadian Embassy in Riyadh said Canada would continue to pursue all avenues to assist the Kohail brothers.
The Kohail brothers are Canadian citizens of Palestinian origin. They moved to Canada in 2000 from Saudi Arabia and settled in Dollard des Ormeaux, only to return to the Kingdom later.
